Oxblood Troubles!

Am Ahmad, a student from Oslo, Norway. I study Graphic art but am so interested in ceramics and I am pretty fascinated by Oxblood glaze. Last semester I produced a ceramic work that is 2.5 meter long, 1.6 high and weighs circa 1.5 ton in a shape of an ox. I want to glaze it with a deep red Oxblood but I never succeeded in finding one with less problems. My ceramic experience is not that rich yet so I would appreciate any help I get.

I recently got a fine red color but the glaze ran off the sculpture and filled the oven. If anyone have any recommendation about a glaze that can give deep red tone and does not run off please contact me

What Cone (temp/heat work measurement using Orton Cone system) will you fire the ox to? Make sure you know what type of clay you are using (low fire, mid-fire, or high fire) so that it isn't overfired and so the glaze will 'fit' the clay (for example I use low fire earthenware clay with low fire glazes).

Coyote Clay & Glaze has an Oxblood glaze (http://www.coyoteclay.com or http://www.baileypottery.com/glazes/CoyoteCone6.htm) and though I don't have personal experience with it, I've used their "snowy plum" glaze that has similar characteristics -- copper based, preferring a low-oxygen environment in oxidation (tightly pack kiln/close peepholes). Worth a test!

True oxblood glazes tend to be touchy. They are a cone 10 reduction glaze. Much of what makes them so beautiful is that they have great depth. If you look at a cross section, the red is sandwiched between two layers of clear glass. Part of the reason they are so touchy is that they are very low in copper, which tends to fume out, so it's easy to lose the color if the pot is in the path of the flame or gets too hot. You would think that with such intense color there would be a lot of copper in there, but most recipes only use about .25%. That's one quarter of one percent. Not much at all. They are typically quite fluid/runny, and need a somewhat thicker application for good color.

So is there a solution for your problem? Maybe. But if you want really intense red color, you're going to have to deal with the runniness of the glaze. But there are a lot of recipes out there, so start testing. Some are less fluid than others. Also experiment with the firing schedule, temperature, etc. There are a lot of variables, all of which can have a huge affect on that type of glaze.